Tomorrow is Election Day 2014, when voters will decide what party will take the Senate, and what individuals will serve in executive and legislative positions in states, cities, and towns across the country. Some states are also seeing pro-life ballot questions.
Here are some of the most important and prominent races and ballot questions that will be decided tomorrow.
Gubernatorial races
Maine governor Paul LePage has been unabashedly pro-life since the beginning of his governorship. Among other statements and policy measures, he defunded a Planned Parenthood-affiliated organization of $400,000 in 2012. He criticized the state teachers union for backing a same-sex “marriage” ballot question in November.
LePage's opponent, Democratic Congressman Mike Michaud, would become the first openly gay governor in U.S. history. He “came out” approximately one year ago. Michaud and LePage are running neck-and-neck in polls, though the election blog FiveThirtyEight projects that Michaud has a slight advantage in tomorrow's elections because independent candidate Eliot Cutler — whose positions more closely mirror Michaud's — has said his supporters can back either of the major party candidates. A majority of Cutler's will go to Michaud, predicts FiveThirtyEight.
In Florida, former health care magnate and incumbent Republican Rick Scott is losing by one point to former governor and Republican-turned-Independent-turned-Democrat Charlie Crist. Scott — who has signed several pro-life bills — has faced heavy criticism from the Planned Parenthood-backed Crist for his pro-life term.
Crist has specifically criticized Scott for signing an ultrasound bill in 2011 that Crist had previously vetoed, and for signing a late-term abortion ban.
Pennsylvania's Republican governor, Tom Corbett, is losing to Democratic opponent Tom Wolf by 13 points as Election Day approaches. Corbett raised eyebrows when he stood behind a so-called “non-discrimination” law that would force Catholic schools to keep gay teachers on staff. He also declined to challenge a judge's decision declaring Pennsylvania's marriage law unconstitutional, saying victory was unlikely.
Corbett also opposed a pro-life ultrasound bill.
Former Senator and presidential candidate Sam Brownback replaced Kathleen Sebelius as Governor of Kansas in 2010. The outspoken conservative, who won in a landslide, is facing a much tighter race this year over accusations that his tax cuts have left the state lacking funding for education and other programs. A Fox poll shows Brownback losing to pro-abortion opponent Paul Davis by six points, with 20 percent of Republicans backing Davis, while a YouGov poll shows Brownback with a one-point lead. He is losing in the Real Clear Politics average of polls by 2.3 percent.
As governor, Brownback has defunded Planned Parenthood; required parental consent for a minor to have an abortion; and compared abortion to slavery in a State of the State speech.
Senate races
Republican Cory Gardner, a U.S. congressman, has gone from a strong underdog in the Colorado race to taking the lead in recent polling, though this week a poll showed that the race is within the margin of error. Gardner, who backed a personhood amendment until attacked by incumbent Democratic Senator Mark Udall, has since said that he realized backing personhood was wrong. According to Gardner, such an amendment risks banning birth control, though critics say Gardner is confusing abortifacients and contraceptives. Udall's campaign has largely relied on “War on Women”-style campaigning, with NARAL running a much-criticized ad last week claiming that electing Gardner would lead to the banning of birth control and a shortage of condoms.
In North Carolina, Democratic incumbent Kay Hagan has found herself holding a small lead in a race that has seen abortion organizations spend millions to keep her in office. Hagan's opponent, Thom Tillis, has said he believes life begins at conception. The race is likely to be the most expensive Senate race in the nation's history.
In Kansas, longtime incumbent Republican Pat Roberts has fallen behind Independent Greg Orman in new polling. Roberts, who is pro-life, was expected to have an easy victory until his Democratic opponent dropped out of the race and Democrats unofficially backed Orman. For his part, Orman has said he will not decide which party to caucus with unless he is elected, though Republicans believe the socially liberal Orman would stand with Democrats. Orman has refused to say whether he supports current legislation in the Senate that would ban late-term abortions and eliminate federal funding for abortions. Orman says he supports abortion.
Iowa is seen as perhaps the most important race in the nation, where GOP farmer Joni Ernst supports personhood, as well as abolishing the EPA and the Department of Education. Congressman Bruce Braley has proudly run on his record of supporting abortion, providing a sharp contrast between the candidates. While a Des Moines Register poll showed Ernst with a seven-point lead last week, most polls have the race within the margin of error.
In Republican-dominated Kentucky, pro-abortion Catholic Allison Grimes is slowly losing her race to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. While the Democratic challenger initially gave the generally pro-life McConnell a tough fight, new polling shows him up 50-41 among likely voters, and 49-39 among registered voters.
Pro-life ballot initiatives
North Dakota is on track to become the first state to pass a personhood amendment to its state constitution, if recent polling is to be believed. While most pro-life advocates in the state say the ballot question is not a personhood amendment, according to Mother Jones, that is the functional effect of the measure.
Colorado life advocates are likewise saying that their ballot question to make the killing of an unborn child a crime is not the same as past failed measures to grant legal personhood to unborn children. However, Planned Parenthood is putting its money and advocacy efforts behind opposing the legislation, saying it is a de facto personhood amendment.
In Tennessee, voters will have the chance to approve or deny giving state legislators the power to pass pro-life legislation. A plurality of voters support the ballot question.
State Senate race
Democratic media darling Sandra Fluke, who came to fame in 2012 for supporting the HHS mandate for insurance coverage of abortifacients, sterilization, and contraceptives, was leading her race for state Senate in a campaign poll in September. If she wins, Fluke will replace the state senator who introduced the controversial ban on so-called “reparative therapy” for teenagers who have same-sex attractions.